Potential areas of co-operation
The new framework Law of 2007 (Art. 17) allows the formation of consortia either on a voluntary basis or on the initiative of the Government. Some isolated initiatives have emerged in recent years. Examples include the joint doctoral programme between Aveiro and Porto; training of Technical University of Lisbon staff by UAb in using the learning platform; joint MBA of the Banking Institute and Universidade Catolica; and shared degree programmes offered by some northern Polytechnics. There are also some examples of offering joint degrees with European or US universities or online courses.
In the situation where the UAb is aiming to expand its offers in new subject areas, it can benefit by co-operating with Universities that have subject knowledge, even if the latter are not planning to offer DL in these subject areas. The UAb can benefit from the subject knowledge it may be lacking and the Universities can benefit through using the material developed in their blended format for their F2F students. Thus there can be consortium arrangements for joint programme development but the programme itself need not be offered jointly.
In the situation where some Universities are planning to offer DL programmes that are not offered (or planned to be offered) by UAb, co-operative arrangements would be beneficial if the UAb can contribute didactic advice, technical assistance with programme development, and training of DL teachers and tutors.
The area of DL research and innovation offers an opportunity of wide collaboration across many institutions as the need to adopt new DL pedagogy is felt by all institutions. A centre based on co-operation among many partners is more likely to win FCT (Fundação para a Ciência ea Tecnologia) funding through competitive procedures than a single institution's application.
The consortium approach may be better suited for the Polytechnics. Polytechnics do not have the broad scope of subject matter disciplines compared to the big universities in the larger cities of the country. Their enrolment levels for courses can be relatively small and their focus is more on teaching than research. Local educational offers can help to reduce migration to larger cities. Although there is already some cooperation among polytechnics e.g. five northern polytechnics offer joint degree programmes, this process can benefit considerably from government support.
Its focus could be on developing on line courses and on administration of the courses, with the aim of supplementing actual degree courses mainly at BA level as well as providing bridging courses to prepare 23+ students for entrance qualification. With respect to preparatory courses there seem to be difficulties to make such offers as they are not incorporated into the regular BA curriculum. However these offers are urgently needed and may, if no other solution is possible, be offered on an extra curriculum basis. Another promising area is the sharing of online laboratory access.
A small technical and pedagogical support unit would be needed to streamline design, plan and coordinate applications for funding, do marketing and organize a quality control. This organisational unit could be responsible for server hosting and for operating the web portal of the consortium. Hosting of the central support unit could be with one of the polytechnics.
Course enrolment would be with the local Polytechnics to avoid the risk of institutions losing students to a centralised organisation. They would also be responsible for tutoring. If course development is funded no parallel face to face courses should be offered. To reduce the need for local premises, most F2F tutoring should be provided on line. Assessment can be taken in written form in a supervised environment supplemented by oral examinations via conferencing facilities at the local institution.
In conclusion, we feel that a collaborative approach among HEIs is an essential component of the strategy for significantly expanding Portugal's DL capacity.